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Sophia called The Unbrokenstring Crew after her prized red Ibanez acoustic/electric quit during a gig. Could we fix it? This is a surprisingly solid instrument, with a red finish that just won’t quit. I also have a similar Chinese acoustic electric which is a surprisingly good guitar for the money. The tuner still…

This head was soldiering away in the studio when the output signal became distorted. Can the Unbrokenstring Crew un-distort the output and keep it from happening again? Stock photo credit: Ashdown Engineering Name, rank and serial number, please. The oscilloscope shows the waveform presented across an eight ohm resistive load. A sinewave is…

This preamplifier and microphone processor is in the audio chain of every hit produced by Majic$tyle Studios over in Houston’s 3rd Ward. But it quit one day. So the music quit. Could the Unbrokenstring Crew help the Majic$tyle Crew bring back the music? Like many recording facilities around Houston, the modest studio in the back…

Steve used these monitors in his studio constantly. Unexpectedly, they broke. Can the Unbrokenstring Crew bring them back to life? These monitors have no grille so the raw loudspeakers were given a little protection for the trip to the shop. These are entirely self-contained, with power supply, amplifier, input attenuation, and high frequency controls…

These sturdy old bass heads turn up in pawn shops and Craigslist from time to time. They soldier on for years, sometimes making music for decades. This unit came in for some minor repairs and a Million Mile Checkup. Let’s get to work! This unit has LEDs for the power indicator and a clipping indicator,…

David found this fine old Peavey combo amp in a pawn shop for almost next to nothing. Could the Unbrokenstring Crew resurrect it? This saga begins on a cool Saturday morning in the Guitar Center Pasadena parking lot. If you look closely, you can see right through this unit. Literally. What are we getting ourselves…

The customer was headed to the recording studio with his favorite amp. However, our patient has two issues. When the unit operates, the fan is noisy and the output signal comes and goes when you tap around the headphone jack. When you don’t hear the fan anymore, the whole thing has quit. Can the Unbrokenstring…

Most of what you see in this post works well. However, a crossover network inside the speaker cabinet doesn’t work at all. Could the Unbrokenstring Crew sort out a solution that would put this cabinet back to work? Here is some file old hardware from the 1980s. This cabinet has an eighteen inch subwoofer underneath…

This powered mixer lives two lives; During the week, it rides quietly in the back of the sound van; When the weekend comes, it works hard as the sound system on the main stage for outdoor festivals. After years of incredibly reliable service, the unit just stopped. And it already had a date on the…

This Peavey Artist combo amp was WAY too distorted to suit even the most extreme metal head. Could the Unbrokenstring Crew look into this and put this unit back into service? First, a tour. You can have two channels, or a mix of the two ‘Automix’ inputs. This was a ‘thing’ back in the day.…

Mysteriously, this pedal just went mute while playing. Can the Unbrokenstring Crew get it going again? I find this to be a unique design. But I cannot help but think that the assumption was made that everyone uses their right foot to run the pedal. Using your left foot is a little awkward. Let’s…

Quyen found this 2013 Les Paul Custom Lite on Craigslist, and purchased it from a church musician. The instrument was everything he wanted, except the controls were not the traditional Les Paul controls that he was familiar with. Could the Unbrokenstring Crew make the control configuration a little less ‘ghetto’? Let’s see what we can…

I can’t help but think that this is not a real Fender, but “Fender Bass Amplification” is the nameplate on this unit, not the cursive Fender logo seen for decades. This unit is very versatile, works better than most bass combos, but just screams “Designed and Manufactured In China.” A lot of ‘motor noise’ came…

St. Louis Music produced this handsome tube-based Crate amp. Robin said that this unit is ready for some service. I just love the blonde Tolex and clean appearance of this unit! The front panel reveals that this is a single input, two channel unit. The clean channel sports conventional treble and bass controls. Bringing the…

The owner of this amp was so anxious to get it fixed, he removed the chassis from this Peavey Stereo Chorus 212 combo and even helped load it! The amp plays, but only one stereo channel is operational. Can the Unbrokenstring Crew help? A quick look of the front panel shows the inputs and the…